PARIS (Reuters) -Carrefour (EPA: CARR), a French supermarket chain, is freezing prices on 100 everyday items like canned sardines, rice, and dishwashing liquid. The company announced this on Monday, joining other companies that are trying to help consumers deal with rising prices.
The moves came after the government of President Emmanuel Macron asked businesses to do more to stop prices from going up.
Faced with the possibility of a “supertax” on their record profits, the French oil giant TotalEnergies and the shipping giant CMA CGM cut prices even more in July. TotalEnergies said it would lower fuel prices at all of its gas stations in France from September 1 until the end of the year. CMA CGM said it would cut shipping costs for goods coming from Asia to France by 750 euros ($751) per container.
Carrefour said that it would not change the prices of a wide range of products, including food, medicine, and clothes, until November 30.
Other stores have also used advertising to appeal to consumers’ worries about the rising cost of living because of rising inflation.
In May, the French supermarket chain Leclerc froze the prices of its 120 best-selling items until July. In April, the British supermarket chains Asda and Morrisons said they would lower the prices of essential items.
Inflation in France rose to 6.8% in July, according to data released this month. This is the highest rate since France started using European Union methods to calculate inflation data in the early 1990s. However, thanks to price caps on electricity and gas, France’s inflation rate is still lower than most other EU countries.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, energy prices went up, adding to the price pressures caused by tight supply chains after the worst of the COVID pandemic. This caused inflation to go up all over the world.
($1 = 0.9985 euros)
